Beware of EMC switches sold as Mellanox SX6XXX on eBay

[larryl79]

Somebody could me tell me / point on a post where can see all models of buyable managed IB-ethernet gateways (even convertible)

Thanks

 

[NablaSquaredG]

Somebody could me tell me / point on a post where can see all models of buyable managed IB-ethernet gateways (even convertible)

SX6036
SX6018
SX6012
SX6720
SX6710

 

[larryl79]

SX6036
SX6018
SX6012
SX6720
SX6710

Thanks for the quick answer.

Which need be converted? all supported by MLX-OS?

 

[Softlution]

This is for anybody that finds this huge thread and want to skip most of the out of date info and just get a clean updated switch



Hello All, Thought I would post my experience successfully converting my EMC SX6018 using the guide here...

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/beware-of-emc-switches-sold-as-mellanox-sx6xxx-on-ebay.10786/post-322431

Converting Mellanox EMC switch to SX6012.docx

I originally flashed using the "hacky" guide but this updated guide works much better and gives you a "real" install.

I was able to do the update using a MAC with the built in apache server and tftp server to host the necessary files (It should be equally easy on linux)

Using the Built in TFTP Server on Mac OS

WirelessPhreak.com is my personal blog where I post on topics related to Technology, Security, Travel, and other random stuff I like.

www.wirelessphreak.com

Enable The Built-In Web Server In OS X – krypted

You don't need php or anything fancy in apache, just the ability to host files

All the files needed are linked in the above doc.

Once you successfully flash the first image you can just use the web gui to continually update to the next version

I had a few updated versions refuse to start (hung on initializing), when that happened I just booted back to the last version and moved on to the next one and it worked fine. I wonder if I could have jumped directly to the last version but I did all versions except for two.

There is lots of information on this thread about updating fans but here is the best way to control fan speed

/opt/tms/bin/mdreq action /system/chassis/actions/set-fan-speed fan_module string "/FAN/FAN" fan_number int8 1 fan_speed int8 27 set_max uint8 50
/opt/tms/bin/mdreq action /system/chassis/actions/set-fan-speed fan_module string "/FAN/FAN" fan_number int8 2 fan_speed int8 27 set_max uint8 50
/opt/tms/bin/mdreq action /system/chassis/actions/set-fan-speed fan_module string "/FAN/FAN" fan_number int8 3 fan_speed int8 27 set_max uint8 50
/opt/tms/bin/mdreq action /system/chassis/actions/set-fan-speed fan_module string "/FAN/FAN" fan_number int8 4 fan_speed int8 27 set_max uint8 50
/opt/tms/bin/mdreq action /system/chassis/actions/set-fan-speed fan_module string "/PS1/FAN" fan_number int8 1 fan_speed int8 27 set_max uint8 50
/opt/tms/bin/mdreq action /system/chassis/actions/set-fan-speed fan_module string "/PS2/FAN" fan_number int8 1 fan_speed int8 27 set_max uint8 50

you can throw it in the /etc/rc.d/rc.local script to start at boot
To do this you need to login to the switch, enable changes, and run # _shell
check where the current mount point is by running
mount
then you can remount the root partition with the following command
mount -o remount,rw /dev/mtdblock7 /

#!/bin/sh
#
# This script will be executed *after* all the other init scripts.
# You can put your own initialization stuff in here if you don't
# want to do the full Sys V style init stuff.

touch /var/lock/subsys/local
touch /var/lock/subsys/local

echo "Waiting for clusterd"
COUNT=1
while true
do
    CMD=$(ps aux|grep "/[o]pt/tms/bin/clusterd")
    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
        sleep 30
        let COUNT=${COUNT}+1
        if [ $COUNT -gt 10 ]; then
            echo "time out, aborting"
            break
        fi
    else
        sleep 60
        echo "Changing fan speed"
        /opt/tms/bin/mdreq action /system/chassis/actions/set-fan-speed fan_module string "/FAN/FAN" fan_number int8 1 fan_speed int8 27 set_max uint8 50
        /opt/tms/bin/mdreq action /system/chassis/actions/set-fan-speed fan_module string "/FAN/FAN" fan_number int8 2 fan_speed int8 27 set_max uint8 50
        /opt/tms/bin/mdreq action /system/chassis/actions/set-fan-speed fan_module string "/FAN/FAN" fan_number int8 3 fan_speed int8 27 set_max uint8 50
        /opt/tms/bin/mdreq action /system/chassis/actions/set-fan-speed fan_module string "/FAN/FAN" fan_number int8 4 fan_speed int8 27 set_max uint8 50
        /opt/tms/bin/mdreq action /system/chassis/actions/set-fan-speed fan_module string "/PS1/FAN" fan_number int8 1 fan_speed int8 27 set_max uint8 50
        /opt/tms/bin/mdreq action /system/chassis/actions/set-fan-speed fan_module string "/PS2/FAN" fan_number int8 1 fan_speed int8 27 set_max uint8 50
        break
     fi
done

Hi there. I did successfully change the fan speed but when I tried to get the fan speed less than 27, the switch become unresponsive running full speed the fans for a few seconds and then turning them off again. It is stuck in a loop and it doesn't let me edit the fan speed. Any ideas of how to access a cli to bring the fan speed back to 27?

 

[NablaSquaredG]

Which need be converted? all supported by MLX-OS?

SX6036,SX6018,SX6012 can come as EMC versions (need to be converted) or normal Mellanox (no conversion necessary). haven't seen SX6720 and SX6710 as OEMed versions yet.